What we believe

What is Christianity?

Christianity is the world's biggest religion, with about 2.1 billion followers worldwide and congregations growing in China and South Korea. 42 million Britons see themselves as nominally Christian, and there are 6 million actively practising.

Our faith is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who lived in Palestine over 2,000 years ago. When he was asked to summarise his religion, he said it was about loving God and our neighbour as ourselves.

The Christian way of life is lived in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In common with other Christians, members of our Church, Anglicans, seek to deepen that relationship and to follow the way that Jesus taught.

Christians believe there is only one God, the Trinity – that’s God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Some people confuse this and think we worship three separate gods, which we don't. Christians hold that God took human form as Jesus Christ, and that God is present in today’s world through the work of the Holy Spirit.  

• Father… God is love, caring for creation and for every human being as God's beloved child.

• Son… God is as he has revealed himself to be in the historical person of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life, death and resurrection holds the key to knowing and loving God, and to making sense of life, before and after death.

• Holy Spirit… God is alive, loving and active today, inspiring faith, justice and truth, sustaining the life of the world, giving spiritual gifts to the church and bearing his spiritual fruit in the world, changing lives and transforming society.

Finding out more

Because Christianity involves relationship and community, the best way to find out about faith and prayer, to raise questions and to get help, is to meet some Christians. The Church of England is just one of the Christian churches in this country. We seek to work alongside other Christian churches and denominations as closely as we can.

You can also learn more about God as he is in Jesus by reading the Bible - why not start with the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament?

The Church of England, which is part of the Anglican Communion, is made up of communities of Christians in every corner of the land. Most of these can be found centered on the parish church buildings, which are usually easily recognisable. There are around 310 parishes in the Diocese of Ely

Many Anglicans now meet in and through smaller groups, relating to networks of people in our fast-changing society. Or they seek to serve particular groups of people and to find their Christian identity alongside them.

Other Anglicans are committed to traditional religious communities, whether as monks and nuns or as people associated with those communities.

There are also online communities of Christians who use the resources of the web to make contact.